Rose Campion
Lychnis coronaria — Rose Campion, Dusty Miller, Crown of the Field
Neon-bright magenta-pink flowers above soft woolly silver-grey foliage like felt — the RHS AGM cottage perennial with genuine winter foliage interest. Prolific self-seeder.
About this variety
Two beautiful things on one plant that look as though they should not belong together. The leaves and stems are thick with soft woolly silver-white hairs, felted like lambs' ears, and against them sit small flat flowers in a magenta-pink so saturated it looks lit from behind. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.
The silver rosette is still there in January, which is worth something. Very few perennials give you foliage interest through a British winter, and this one does it without asking for anything.
Grow it as a colony rather than as a plant. Individually it is short-lived, two or three years, and the strategy is to let it seed itself: silver rosette in year one, flowers in year two, seedlings appearing round the parent by year three, and after that it looks after itself. It wants full sun and lean, sharply drained ground, and heavy wet soil is what kills it. Deadhead to extend the flowering, but leave some stems to set seed each year or the colony stops replacing itself.
Plant alongside
Rose Campion pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics
RHS Plants for Pollinators
This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.
Learn more at RHS.org.uk →
RHS Award of Garden Merit
The RHS Award of Garden Merit is given to plants of outstanding excellence for ordinary garden use. To earn this award a plant must be of good constitution, available to the gardening public, and perform reliably across a range of UK growing conditions. It is one of the most trusted plant recommendations in British gardening and a genuine mark of quality.
Learn more at RHS.org.uk →